Shoulder strap



Dec. M, 1937- s. M. CREWDSON SHOULDER STRAP Filed May 7, 1957 Ali irvllllvlzllllvillrr 11.) 1

. f/fwi 4Z7 fiamiz M C 1640150 V Patented Dec. 14, 1937 Sarah M. Crewdson, Chicago, Ill.

Application May 7, 1937, Serial No. 141,310

4 Claims. The invention relates to improvements in V shoulder straps and has reference more particularly to shoulder straps for application to ladies undergarments, which will conform easily and comfortably to the shoulder of the wearer and which will also maintain a smooth flat contour for uniform distribution of pressure to the shoulder.

Shoulder straps of the kind particularly referred to are generally made of a light flexible material such as silk, rayon or cotton. Shoulder straps of this character, without the improvecause the light, flexible material of which the strap is made does not retain its flat contour but instead becomes twisted or rolled and assumes a cord-like appearance. 7

The present invention aims to overcome the above difficulty by providing said shoulder straps with a stiffening member and which can be ad- J'ustably positioned along the strap so that the member can be located directly over the shoulder or forward or rearward thereof as may be desired by the wearer of the garment.

With these and variousother objects in view,

the invention may consist of certain novel fea tures of construction and operation as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawing and claims appended hereto.

In the drawing which illustrates an embodiment of the invention and wherein like reference characters are used to designate'like parts- Figure l is a top plan view of a shoulder strap having an adjustable pocket strip attached thereto for receiving the stiffening member;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of a shoulder strap having a pocket strip for receiving a stiffening member permanently sewed thereto;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 55 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a modified form of a shoulder strap having a relatively long pocket strip incorporated therein for receiving and adjustably positioning a stiffening member;

Figure 7 is a'longitudinal sectional View taken substantially along line 'l,'! of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a bottom plan View of another modi- 'fied form of shoulder strap by which adjustability of the stiffening member longitudinally of the strap is rendered possible; and

Figure 9 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along line 9-9 of Figure 8.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, numeral Ill indicates'the shoulder strap proper which may be made of suitable cloth material such as silk, rayon'or the like. It is to be understood that the strap may be of a length to suit the particular garment to which the same is to be applied and for this reason the drawing shows the same as of undeterminable length having the improvements of the invention applied thereto substantially centrally of the strap. This central location of the stifiening member on the shoulder strap will locate the same directly over the shoulder. of the wearer of the garment to which the strap is applied. This is in accordance with the invention, which contemplates incorporating a stiffening. member or the like in the strap in order to insure that the portion of the strap over the shoulder have a flat contour so that the pressure of the strap on the shoul- 'ders will be distributed over as large an area as the strap will permit.

Referring to Figure l, the strap Ii] has a pocket strip adjustably secured thereto, which is formed by a sheath of material comprising two'layers of cloth II and 62, which are sewed together along their longitudinal edges. Each end of the resulting sheath is suitably closed by a clip I3 and an opening H3 is provided in the bottom layer l2 by which the stiffening member l5 can be inserted into the pocket provided therefor by the layers of material II and i2. Metal or Celluloid slides Iiigare provided for adjustably' attaching the respective ends of the pocket strip to the shoulder strap. By means of the slides it is possible to locate the pocket strip having the stilfening member 95 therein longitudinally of the shoulder strap and therefore the portion of the shoulder strap thus stiffened can be located directly over the shoulders of the wearer. Since the pocket strip will be in direct contact with the body, the invention contemplates the use of velvet or other soft material for thebottom layer l2 of the pocket strip.

The shoulder strap shown in Figures 4 and 5, has a pocket strip sewed thereto at the respective ends of the strip. The layers of material I1 and I8 are sewed along their longitudinal edges to form a sheath of material such as described with respect to Figure 1 for receiving the stiffening member 20. The respective ends of the strip 5 are sewed at El to the strap l and an opening 22 is formed, preferably in the layer IT, by which the stiffening member can be inserted into and removed from the pocket strip.

The modified form of the invention shown in Figure 6 comprises the usual shoulder strap H) which in this instance may have joined to one end thereof by the buckle 23 a section of elastic 24 for imparting flexibility and elasticity to the strap in the direction of its length. The strap is provided with a pocket formed by the layer of material 25 which in this instance is sewed to the strap at its respective ends and also along its longitudinal edges so that the sheath for receiving the stiffening member is formed by said layer 25 and the strap in. The pocket is made considerably longer than the stiffening member to be inserted therein, as will be evident from an inspection of Figure 6. In order that the stiffening member may be adjustably positioned within the pocket, the same is provided with openings 26, 21 and 28. Also one end of the stiffening member 30 is formed with a hole 3| which is used to sew the stiffening member to the strap and thus the member may be held in desired position within the pocket.

It will be understood that when the stiffening member 30 is inserted in opening 26 the same will be positioned toward the left end of the pocket, which is opposite to the position assumed by the strip when inserted in opening 28. Whether the member has been inserted through opening 26, El or 28 the same is then tacked to the strap, retaining the member in position.

The modified form of strap shown in Figures 8 and 9 contemplates three separate and independent overlapping pockets located substantially centrally of the strap so that the said pockets will extend over the shoulder. Of course, any number of pockets having overlapping relation may be applied to the strap but three has been found to give the range of adjustability found necessary.

The first pocket is formed by the layer of material 32 which is sewed along the longitudinal edges and at one end to the strap I0, as at 33, leaving the other end open to permit insertion of the stiffening member 34. In a like manner the second pocket is formed by the layer of material 35 sewed at its rear end to the strap at 36 and a third pocket by the layer of material 3! sewed to the strap at 38. By inserting the stiffening member within the first of the three pockets its position longitudinally of the strap can be changed from that shown in Figure 8, wherein the member occupies the second pocket. In this form of the invention it is preferred that the material 31 present a soft surface to the body of the wearer and also for the purpose said material may comprise velvet or the like. Also the exposed sections of the strips of material 32 and 35 may comprise or may be faced with soft material.

The invention is not to be limited to or by details of construction of the particular embodiment thereof illustrated by the drawing, as various other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A garment shoulder strap structure comprising a length of cloth material sufficient to form a strap, means including a tubular strip providing a pocket and adjustably secured to said strap, said tubular strip having an opening to the pocket therein, and a stiffening member insertable endwise through said opening into said pocket for stiffening the same, whereby said strap is reinforced along the length of the tubular strip.

2. A garment shoulder strap structure comprising a length of cloth material sufiicient to form a strap, means including a tubular strip providing a pocket and adjustably secured to said strap, said tubular strip having an opening in the pocket therein and extending longitudinally of the strap on the underside thereof, and a stiffening member insertable endwise through said opening into said pocket for stiffening the same, whereby said strap is reinforced along the length of the tubular strip.

3. In a shoulder strap of the kind described, a tubular strip providing a pocket, said strip having an opening leading to the pocket therein through which a stiffening member may be inserted endwise into said pocket, and means fixed to the respective ends of said tubular strip for adjustably securing said strip to said shoulder strap, whereby the portion of the strap thus stiffened and reinforced by the tubular strip will lie flat and will uniformly distribute pressure to the shoulders of the wearer.

4. In a shoulder strap of the kind described, a tubular strip providing a pocket, slides fixed to the respective ends of said tubular strip for adjustably securing said strip to said shoulder strap, said tubular strip extending longitudinally of the strap on the underside thereof and having an opening to the pocket therein located toward the underside of said strap, and a stiffening member received by said pocket for stiffening and reinforcing that portion of the shoulder strap provided with said tubular strip.

SARAH M. CREWDSON. 

